ALK vs UAL Stock Comparison

Alaska Air and United Airlines Holdings Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

United Airlines Holdings leads on 9 of the 12 questions below (United Airlines Holdings 9). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionALKUALLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $3.88B $32.72B UAL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -22.2x 9.1x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 12.5x –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.8% +12.3% UAL
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -1.2% 5.5% UAL
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital -1.1% 8.9% UAL
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 6.1x 1.5x UAL
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -26.2% +2.4% UAL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -8.6%/yr +16.0%/yr UAL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 52.3% 48.1% UAL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 40/100 49/100 UAL

Percentile Scorecard

ALKUAL

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisALKUAL
Valuation 49 #70 of 136 74 #36 of 136
Growth 20 #98 of 122 50 #61 of 122
Profitability 20 #95 of 119 49 #61 of 119
Financial Health 11 #131 of 147 21 #116 of 147
Shareholder Returns 98 #3 of 84 –
Overall 40 49
  • ALK ranked among 150 companies in Transportation
  • UAL ranked among 150 companies in Transportation

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodALKUALSPY
1 month -13.3%-11.6% -1.0%
3 months -25.5%-17.2% +2.9%
6 months -17.3%+5.3% +6.4%
Year to date -31.6%-12.4% +11.4%
1 year -26.2%+2.4% +13.1%
3 years +8.0%+178.7% +79.4%
3 years, per year +2.6%+40.8% +21.5%
5 years -36.1%+109.6% +67.7%
5 years, per year -8.6%+16.0% +10.9%
10 years -53.9%+76.1% +255.2%
10 years, per year -7.4%+5.8% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureALKUALSPY
Volatility, 1Y 52.3%48.1% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 50.6%43.9% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.242.21 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.500.05 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -56.2%-49.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -42.9%-28.1% -2.5%
52-week high $60.21$136.11 $779.14
52-week low $33.56$85.21 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleALKUAL
P/E now vs peer median -21.8xmedian 16.0x 8.9xmedian 16.0x
P/S now vs peer median 0.3xmedian 1.0x 0.5xmedian 1.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 12.6xmedian 8.7x 5.5xmedian 8.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median -11.0xmedian 11.5x 28.5xmedian 11.5x
P/B now vs peer median 1.0xmedian 1.2x 1.8xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median 0.45median 0.82 1.07median 0.82

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsALKUAL
Revenue $14.76B $65.55B
Operating income -$224.00M $4.92B
Net income -$175.00M $3.58B
Free cash flow -$350.00M $1.12B
EPS (diluted) $-1.57 $10.93
Cash & equivalents $1.06B $6.65B
Total debt $6.24B $26.40B
Shares (diluted) 111.13M 327.40M
Enterprise value -$3.94B -$24.97B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricALKUAL
P/E -21.8x 8.9x
P/FCF -11.0x 28.5x
P/Operating cash flow 3.8x 3.9x
P/S 0.3x 0.5x
P/B 1.0x 1.8x
P/Tangible book 1.3x 2.1x
EV/EBITDA 12.6x 5.5x
EV/EBIT -33.1x 8.8x
EV/Revenue 0.5x 0.7x
EV/FCF -21.2x 39.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 7.3x 5.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.45 1.07

Growth

14 metrics
MetricALKUAL
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.8% 12.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 12.6% 7.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – –
Operating income growth (1Y) -145.3% 1.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -43.4% 2.4%
Net income growth (1Y) -155.9% 8.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -45.7% 7.7%
EPS growth (1Y) -160.8% 8.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -48.4% 8.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -28.5% -12.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 0.2% -3.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 9.8% -69.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 19.0% -5.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricALKUAL
Gross margin – –
EBITDA margin 4.0% 12.2%
Operating margin -1.5% 7.5%
Pretax margin -2.6% 6.9%
Net margin -1.2% 5.5%
FCF margin -2.4% 1.7%
Operating cash flow margin 6.9% 12.4%
Return on equity -4.7% 20.8%
Return on assets -0.8% 4.2%
Return on invested capital -1.1% 8.9%
Return on capital employed -1.6% 8.5%
Asset turnover 0.7x 0.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -5.8x 2.3x
Stock comp / revenue 0.3% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricALKUAL
Debt / assets 29.3% 31.0%
Debt / equity 1.7x 1.5x
Net debt / EBITDA 6.1x 1.5x
Debt / FCF -17.8x 23.7x
Liabilities / assets 82.7% 79.1%
Equity / assets 17.3% 20.9%
Interest coverage -0.7x 3.6x
Current ratio 0.5x 0.8x
Quick ratio 0.5x 0.6x
Cash ratio 0.4x 0.6x
Altman Z-score 0.92 1.36

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricALKUAL
Dividend yield – –
Net buyback yield 7.4% –
Shareholder yield 7.4% 0.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusALKUAL
Forward P/E – 12.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $-3.57FY2026 $7.85FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -246.3%FY2026 -26.1%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – +68.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $15.35BFY2026 $66.26BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +7.8%FY2026 +12.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +8.7% +12.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersALKUAL
Held by institutions 92.1% 89.6%
Institutions holding 490 1,066
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.0% +2.4%
Institutions buying 265 568
Institutions selling 146 341
Buyers to sellers 1.82 1.67

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

ALKUAL
ALK 1.00 0.82
UAL 0.82 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ALK and UAL?

United Airlines Holdings (UAL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Alaska Air (ALK) $3.88B, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) $32.72B.

Which company is growing faster?

United Airlines Holdings (UAL) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Alaska Air (ALK) +9.8%, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) +12.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

United Airlines Holdings (UAL) has the highest net margin (Alaska Air (ALK) -1.2%, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) 5.5%). On return on invested capital, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) leads (Alaska Air (ALK) -1.1%, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) 8.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year United Airlines Holdings (UAL) returned the most: Alaska Air (ALK) -26.2%, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) +2.4%. Over five years, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) compounded fastest (Alaska Air (ALK) -8.6%/yr, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) +16.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) has been the steadiest (Alaska Air (ALK) 52.3%, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) 48.1%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do ALK and UAL move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.82, a strong positive relationship. Holding both adds little diversification.

Which is the better stock, ALK and UAL?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) leads on 9. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.